Heart Strings
by WhiteSheWolf17
Summary: A new villain threatens the lives of the residents living in Storybrooke, Maine. It seems to have taken a liking to wrecking havoc on Rumplestiltskin's new found life. All hell breaks loose as Belle falls into the hands of the enemy and the beast awakens once more. Fluff/Angst Rumbelle. Captain Swan. Outlaw Queen. And many more! Reviews are lovely!
1. Chapter 1

The house seemed quieter than normal. More…eerie and cold. The side of the bed opposite of me was long since cold. I sighed, knowing sleep was futile without Rumple here to lay beside me. I glanced at the large picture window, watching the inky black clouds slowly roll across the night sky. Tree branches kept scraping across the side of the house and I sunk deeper into the mattress, pulling the thick red blanket up to my chin.

This was ridiculous. I was Belle French. A fearless princess who stood up to know-it-all men and even The Dark One. I could handle a lonely, dark, slightly scary night…alone. I huffed and threw the covers off. Sitting up against the headboard, I flicked on the bedside lamp, illuminating the massive room in a golden light. Sliding out the drawer of the bedside table, I pulled out a—slightly—over read book that I simply adored. In seconds I would be oblivious to the haunting feeling of isolation and into a world of words and imagination.

"Focus," I muttered to myself as my eyes seemed to scan over the text without truly reading. I gripped the book and squinted my eyes trying to wash out the shadows slinking across the walls from the light of the moon. My chest started to tighten and I gave up, throwing the book down in my lap. Groaning, I began rubbing my temples. How could I still be terrified of being in a room alone? I should be used to it by now. Basically my whole life I've been locked away in isolation. First my father when he thought it would keep me safe, then Rumple back when he was The Dark One and I made a deal with him that I'd be his caretaker, then Regina _twice_. And besides, where I was now was not being prisoner. The room itself was lavish. The entire house was. It just seemed too big and ominous without anyone else here. Which begged the question…where was Rumple? It wasn't uncommon for him to disappear at times. He always had a well enough reason.

"But he didn't even leave a note…" I whispered to myself as I scanned the room in hopes of seeing a little white piece of parchment with my name on it.

What if…

I frowned, looking toward the bedside table. Slowly, I opened the drawer again and my eyes immediately locked on Rumple's dagger. If I really, truly needed him, all I had to do was summon him.

I bit my lip. No. I would not. _Could not._ I would not abuse that power on him. I couldn't pull him away from whatever it is he's accomplishing for something so foolish.

Sighing, I untangled myself from the bed sheets and stood up. Tea always made things better. I smiled as I made my way downstairs to the kitchen, turning on lights as I went. I caught sight of the clock in the parlor and noticed that it was half past two in the morning. I frowned as I began making a kettle of tea. Granny's didn't open until eight. I still had hours to go. But by then Rumple should be back.

I drummed my fingers against the counter top as the tea brewed. _Please don't be doing anything foolish, Rumple_, I silently pleaded.

As hours passed my worry grew. Maybe it was the house putting me on edge. I had checked every room in this house but he was no where to be found. Making up my mind, I changed out of my sleepwear and into my day clothes. It was close to six in the morning and I wasn't waiting around anymore. Grabbing a pair of boots and my knee length coat, I left. The snow under my boots crunched as I walked to my car which was a lovely and quite unexpected wedding gift from Regina. To this day I still don't know why she felt the need to give me this. Maybe she felt a tad of remorse for imprisoning me all those years when she was the Evil Queen. Maybe she wanted to get on Rumple's good side by showing she meant me no harm. Or maybe she was trying to change her fate away from villain with the help of Robin. Nonetheless, I knew her intentions were good. But to be honest, I hated the thing, and would always find a way to not drive it. I much rather would walk than operate this machine.

I sat in the black leather seat and fumbled with the controls to make the inside warmer from the cold temperatures outside. It wasn't hard to drive, from what Regina had told me, it was a well crafted and luxurious car by the name of BMW. I had to wait a bit for the ice to melt off the glass and when it finally cleared up, I backed out of the driveway and drove to my library.

The roads were mostly clear of the snow as I parked in front of my library. Stepping out of the car, I glanced over at the pawn shop. From here I could make out that the lights were off and Rumple wasn't in there. I frowned. Well, wherever he was, I'm sure he was fine and…behaving…

"Just let it go," I whispered, my breath coming out in white puffs.

"Belle?" A voice spoke behind me and I whirled around, placing a hand to my chest. "Oh, sorry!" Mary Margaret apologized in a silvery voice.

I couldn't help but smile at her politeness. "It's alright," I gestured to the doors. "We don't open for a bit," I frowned, "If that's what you were here for?"

She waved her hands, smiling. "Oh no, I was just taking a walk. Why are you here so early?"

I clenched my teeth. "Oh I…just wanted to do some inventory," I lied.

She nodded. "Ah, I won't keep you to it then." She wrapped her coat closer to her chest and smiled. "I'll talk to you later."

I nodded with a smile and pulled open the door. Stepping inside I flipped on the lights and the library came to life. My eyes scanned over the shelves of books out of habit. It wasn't until I stepped closer to my desk that something caught my eye.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

My eyes hardened as I reached forward to grab the white piece of paper with a familiar scrawl beside a deep red rose.

_"My darling Belle, if you would, I have a surprise awaiting you at the place where we had our first dance. Please come by the mansion as soon as you get this. I shall be waiting. All my love, Rumplestiltskin."_

So that's where he's been! I thought as I clutched the note to my chest and inhaled the scent of the rose. I couldn't help but smile as I noticed he had taken each thorn off the stem so I wouldn't accidently prick my finger. Oh, that man. I never thought to check the abandoned mansion that we seemed to have claimed as our own secret hideaway. Of course he would put a note here. It's the first place I would be.

Smiling, I folded the note and put it inside my coat pocket. I turned on my heel and walked back to the door. As I put up the closed sign I hoped no one would come to the library today. Ignoring my guilty conscience, I practically ran to my parked car. In my haste, I didn't notice the slippery patch of ice on the sidewalk and I gave a startled yell as I found myself falling backward and landing on my back and elbows with a hard thud.

"Oof!"

"Belle?"

I shyly looked in front of me to see Ruby hurriedly running over to me, her bright red cloak blowing behind her.

"Careful, there's ice there," I pointed.

"Here," she chuckled as she helped me up.

"Ah, I was kind of hoping nobody saw that," I laughed.

"Sorry," she smiled, steadying me. "Wolf eyes see all. What has you in such a hurry this early?"

I dusted myself off and rubbed my right elbow as it had taken most of my fall. "Oh, Rumple has this surprise for me and he wants me to meet him."

She raised her eyebrows, "Hmm, I see. I'll let you get going then. I'm just on my way to Granny's. Do you want a coffee or anything to help you be more alert?"

"Hey, I would have seen the ice if it hadn't magically appeared."

"Ah, blaming the ice I see. Careful on the roads, I heard some cars spun out and David is thinking of closing some of the roads down to be able to tow them in."

My eyes widened, "Is it serious? Anyone hurt?"

"I guess one of the dwarves lost control on some black ice and hit a tree. But they're okay. David insisted they go and see Dr. Whale just in case."

"That's unfortunate. I'll be careful," I promised and gave her a quick hug.

Driving to the mansion wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I arrived in twenty minutes and saw that the lights were on. I cut the engine and walked up to the door. Another note was plastered to the front of the door. _Prepare to have your dreams come true_, it read. I turned the knob and walked inside. Instantly the scent of all kinds of spices and herbs and dishes enticed me.

"Rumple?" I called, following my nose to the ballroom. What my eyes saw was dreamlike. There was an enormous table in the middle of the floor, larger than any table I could have imagined. And on top of it were countless arrays of different foods of all kinds of colors. And there was Rumple, clad in his signature suit and tie and standing before it all.

"I know you wanted to see the world but seeing as we are stuck here," he gestured to the large amount of food with a shrug, "well, I thought this would satisfy that goal for the time being."

I grinned and ran up to him with my arms open. "Rumple! This is amazing!" I marveled and wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his shoulder.

He squeezed me and swayed us slightly. "I thought you would like it."

I released him and stepped back, still holding his hands. "Like it? I absolutely love it!"

He smiled, releasing my left hand and caresses my cheek lightly. "I'm glad."

As he helped me out of my coat and placed it on a chair, I looked over at all the food. "I don't even know where to begin," I beamed. There were different breads, cheeses, desserts, meats, and drinks.

He chuckled. "Well, may I suggest the ever famous Pain au chocolat from France?" he gestured to a chocolate covered croissant. "Or maybe some Lebkuchenfrom Germany? Or something cold with some Gelato from Italy? Or the classic American cheeseburger?" The list went on and I was mesmerized by it all. We ended up starting with dessert first and I was glad everything was sample size otherwise I wouldn't know what to do with all the food. It wasn't until I was eating what Rumple had called Avgolemono from Greece that something didn't feel right. I was halfway from taking another bite when I grimaced and placed the spoon back in the bowl.

"Belle?" I looked next to me to see Rumple's face painted with worry as he put down his spoon as well.

"I'm fine," I reassured him. "Just this one isn't sitting well with me."

"Here, have some water," he offered and went to grab the pitcher.

I suddenly realized that I was about to be sick. I jumped up in such a hurry that Rumple realized something was wrong and waved his two fingers, causing purple smoke to surround me as I was suddenly transported to the bathroom down the hall, and not a second too soon as I was forced to empty my stomach.

"I'm so sorry, Belle," Rumple says as I finish, his face tight with worry as he smooths my hair away from my face. "I was sure everything was cooked as it should be."

I shook my head. "No, no." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to try and calm my stomach. "Dr. Whale had warned us this would happen around this time, remember?"

He gave a small smile. "Has it been six weeks already? I suppose someone wasn't too fond of the soup."

I chuckled and leaned my head against his chest, breathing in deeply, and rested my hand on my stomach. If anything, there was a slight curve, nothing worth noticing yet.

"We should still go and see Dr. Whale. Just in case," Rumple advised.

I shook my head. "Alright, let me just brush my teeth real quick."

He kissed me on my forehead and helped me to my feet. With a quick wave of his hand, my blue toothbrush and tube of toothpaste were in his hands. "Here you are. Take your time, I'll be downstairs…what happened to your elbow?"

I froze momentarily from grabbing my things and turned my elbow to face me better. There was a small scrape and a bruise already forming. I furrowed my eyebrows. "Oh, I forgot all about that. I was walking out of the library and slipped on some ice. My elbow broke most of the fall."

"Here," he waved his hand over it and it disappeared, leaving behind smooth skin. I automatically lightly ran my thumb over it still wary of the bruise. "Unfortunately magic can't take the bruise away."

I smiled. "It'll heal in no time. Thank you."

"Anytime, darling."

We arrived at the hospital half an hour later and were told Dr. Whale would see us shortly as he was finishing up with another patient.

"Incoming," Rumple breathed in my ear as I sat down in one of the waiting chairs. I looked around and made eye contact with Mary Margaret accompanied by Emma and Killian.

"Be nice," I whispered back to him as they made their way over.

"What are you guys doing here?" Mary Margaret asked, looking slightly alarmed. "Did you get in a car accident as well?"

"I don't think the crocodile managed to," Killian declared.

"Hey," Emma put a hand on his arm then looked at me. "Are you guys alright? I was getting a lot of calls at the station of unsafe road conditions. My dad is still out taking care of anyone in need of assistance."

"How noble," Rumple spoke up before I could come up with a reason as to why we were here. "Unfortunately for the pirate, no accident, although I did hurt my wrist, I would very much like to have it looked at."

"Is that so?" Killian asked. "Why haven't you used your Dark One magic and healed yourself? Save yourself an awfully lot of time."

"Well I guess you could say I didn't feel the need."

"Ah, Gold, right this way," Dr. Whale called, stepping out of a room.

Rumple nodded. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to." He held out his hand to me and I took it.

"It was nice seeing you all!" I called back to them. Emma gave a smile and shook her head at Killian.

"Will you two ever quit?" I heard her mutter to Killian.

"Of course not, love." Killian remarked and put his arm around her. "It's my favorite hobby."

"We really ought to tell everyone," I told Rumple as we entered the room and were out of ear shot. "I feel like I'm lying to everyone."

Rumple smiled. "How about at Granny's tomorrow night? I'll send word out after this appointment."

"That sounds perfect," I smiled and sat down on the operating chair.

"Alright, Belle," Dr. Whale sat down on a stool next to me and turned on a monitor. "How are we doing today?"

"Well just a checkup. I had some morning sickness, Rumple was worried."

"Nothing wrong with being sure," he nodded and brought out the ultrasound. "If you would."

I untucked my blouse and rolled it up, exposing my flat stomach. He applied the gel and began rotating the ultrasound device around.

"Okay, let's see what we have here. Looks good. Heartbeat is normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. I'm sorry you still can't see much," he smiled as my eyes were glued to the screen.

"Belle has slipped and fell on some ice today," Rumple informed him looking slightly nervous. I held his hand.

"Everything seems okay," Doctor Whale acknowledged. "But, I would refrain from using any more magic on Belle. Especially transporting her. I take it you healed her scrape?" he gestured to my elbow with the bruise. Rumple nodded. "I don't know the risk of the use of magic that may have on the development of the baby and it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Understood," Rumple said. I rubbed my thumb across the back of his hand, knowing that he would blame himself if his magic had a consequence to the baby.

"When should I expect to hear the official news to the public?"

"Tomorrow night at Granny's," I smiled.

"I'll make a note of that. And congratulations, you have a healthy baby."

**A/N: Okay! Chapter 2 is complete! Now I had a whole plot of this story figured out last year but now with the current season I'm changing some things. Spoiler alert (maybe?) I originally had Merlin be the villain in this story way before I knew they would actually be including Merlin in the show! So I'm not sure what to do now, haha. So this chapter may be a tad boring, but it's just introducing everything. Anyways, let me know what you think! **


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